Tail gate loader and packer



Nqv. 24, 1953 J. P. CALAMORE 2,660,326

TAIL GATE LOADER AND PACKER Filed NOV. 10, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Jo/zfi E Calamore ATTORN EY NovI 24, 1953 j, CALAMORE 2,660,326

I TAIL GATE LOADEZR AND PACKER Filed Nov. 10, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR John P Calamore BY 3/ %QTTORNEY I Nov. 2 1? 1953 J. P. CALAMORE TAIL GATE LOADER AND PACKER 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed NOV. 10, 1949 INVENTOR John Z Caiqmore 3/ BY .4QW ATTORNEY Nov. 24, 1953 J. P. CALAMORE TAIL GATE LOADER AND PACKER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed NOV. 10, 1949 John P Calamore ATTORNEY in section, of a tailgate embodyingmy invention;

Patented Nov. 24, 1953 TAIL GATE LOADER AND PACKER John P. Calamore, Flushing, N. Y., assignor to City Tank Corporation, Corona, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 10, 1949, Serial No. 126,496

6 Claims. (Cl. 214-519) This invention relates to a tailgate loader and more particularly to a tailgate loader and auxiliary packer for refuse trucks.

It is an object-of this invention to provide a tailgate loader and specifically a tailgate loader for a refuse truck in which a prime mover operates a packer plate in a hopper to permit of the maximum filling capacity of the hopper and which efficiently translates rotary movement of a drive shaft into a compacting motion whereby high pay loads may be filled into refuse'trucks economically. 1 I

It is contemplated by my invention to provide a refuse truck with a tailgate loader and'packer including, in combination with a primary hopper and a feed therefrom comprising continuous flights, of a packer plate operating in a secondary hopper characterized by driving the packer from a countershaft transmitting movement to the plate with high efficiency, and guiding .the plate during shifting of the load from the secondary hopper to give to the packer plate a combination downward, forward and upward movement, cyclically repeated, wherebyrefuse trucks may be quickly and efficiently charged and loaded.

Still more particularly it is an. object of my I leading. downwardly to a hopper hi, having a, filling trough it or hopper located at a low level the operation of the packer plate by an eccentric having its power take-off byia' countershaft operating the lifts for the primary feed.

'Stillmore particularly it"is an object of my invention to provide a load packer forfrefuse trucks comprising a primary hopper within which .a packer plate is driven by a countershaft, and I V to transmit to the packer plate ,a movement to provide maximum filling capacity of the hopper and efficient scraping and-pacl ing actionfrom said hopper into the refuse'truck body. I

To attain these objects and such furtherobjects as mayappear herein, or'be hereinafter pointed out, I make reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, in which-9 Figure 2 is a magnified section taken on the line 2- 2 of;Figure 1; t

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an elevational view takenalong the line 4--4 ofFigure 3; 1 v

Figure 5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 4. j

Thedevice of my invention may be summarized as providing packer and combination tailgate loader particularly suitable for loading refuse into trucks and comprising a tailgate having aprimary hopper located at a low level, with a feed by continuous-flights which takes the load from the hopper and raises itintothe truck body,

depositing it into a secondary hopper in which there operates a packer driven in a manner to permit maximum filling capacity of the secondvary hopper, with a scrapping action which gives the load a combination downward, forward and upward pushing action, cyclically repeated to shift theload into the interior of the truck body. The auxiliary packer may have utility by itself'atany point along the height of thetailgate,

whether used with or without a continuous flight loaderqln the combination, thefeatures of the invention involvethe-use of a single power driven shaft for operating the lifts, with simple countershafts for operatiung the packer, to provide the combination downward entrapping movement, for engaging the charge in the hopper withrearw ward compacting motion and upward pushing and return clearing motion, cyclically performed.

Making reference to the drawings, I illustrate my invention in a refusetruck it having a tai1- gate l hinged adjacent the top of the truck by ahinge, i2. The tailgate includes a casing-I3 of thegtruck. Thecasing side plates to and I? support a cross shaft is on which is. mounted for V rotation-the sprocket wheels l9 and 20, over which areguided chains Hand 22', having-lifts or flights 23. The opposed end of the lifts are provided with shaft 24 having the spaced sprockets 25 and itguidingthe chains 21 and 22, respectively. A sprocket 2? has a chain drive-or belt 28 from the prime mover 23 in the form of anhydraulic Thctor housed 'withinthe casing I3. The lifts or flights areguided along the rear wall 358 extended continuously with jthe bottom wall 3] of the hopper and upwardly to the throat gi'fimmed'iately above the breaking edge 33., The.

. throattz leadslto'fa secondary hopper. coin- Figure 1 is a fragmentary 'sideelevation', partly prisinglthe arcuate bottom wall 35 having e ter,-

minal edge as and'side plates 3l'and 38'constitutand 45, and in turn rotate the side plates 31 and.

38. The side plates 37 and 38 are relatively flush with the supporting plates 41 andv 4h' fcrmi-ng; with the bottom wall the secondary hopper previously described. The plates'3lj and 3B supr port an eccentric shaft 4Ptransversely of the hopper 34 to be guided closely adjacent the arcuately formed bottom wall 35.; Apacker plate ltl-i's mounted on the cross shaft 41, to extenda scraper edge 49 in contact with the bottom wall'35 as it moves eecentrically about the countershafts 39 and 40.

The upper edge 50 of the packer plate is pro-- vided' with a cross bearing 5| to receive the cross bar 52 which is extended into side arms 53' and 5'4; terminating into pivots 55 and 55, anchored in the bearings 5! and 58 supported adjacent the-side pl'ates 4| and 42 of the casing.

With the construction described,:it will be observed that upon rotation of the shaft 24 in the direction of the arrow 53. the countershafts 39 and 40 will be driven by the sprockets and 45 and the chains 45a and 46a connected therewith, to transmit to the side plates 3! and 38 a rotary movement. Crank arms on which side plates are mounted may be employed instead of theside plates. This rotation extends to the cross shaft 41 an eccentric movement, and in turn oscillates thepacker plate 48 about the arms 53 and .54, pivoted respectively at 55 and 56, projectingthe packer plate 48 to provide a downward movement of the rear face R as the edge 49 comes adjacent the break edge 33-. Clockwise rotation when viewed as in Figure 3 of the plate 31 will project the face R adjacent the edge 36, with an upward and rearward motion toward the interior of the truck body. When the packer plate, by the cross shaft 41, is moved to the extreme inward position the throat 32 is open to the fullest extent, to'permit of maximum filling capacity;

Where the packer plate is employed in combination with the continuous flights orlifts operated onthe-chain 2i and '22 from the primary hopper t5, the lifts 2 3 are provided in number found most advantageous with the capacity of the hopper 34. Synchronization is provided so that for every other blade of the lift there will be one revolution of the countershafts 39, and 40, with the further detail of timing of the lift to present, a lift blade 23 adjacent the edge 33 when the cross shaft 4'! is in a diametrically opposite position for one blade and in a pro-coincident position (as shown in Figure 3) as the second blade approaches the edge 23. Such timing has been found to provide efiicient operation. 1 The combined rotational and swinging action serves to secure highly efficient and forceful scraping as well as pushing action adjacent the bottom wall 35, to transmit a pushing force of high magnitude 7 against the load charged into the secondary hopper where it finds greatest resistance, and against the resistance of the accumulated load withinthe truck body. The return ,upward tilting movement clearing the hopper bottom avoids and minimizes recycling or return of therdebrls back into the casing within which the. lifts 01261- ate and this undesirable factor is minimized, if not entirely eliminated. The packer plate 48 is more or less self-cleaning during operation with a wide variety of debris or refuse which may be charged into the hopper 34.

It will be observed that by the installation provided, maxim um force (in-torque is transmitted within thehopper 34 atthe-point where the maximum load is encountered.

The driving of the countershaft for the side plates 3! and 38 from a single power driven shaft 24. makes 01 a; simple yet rugged construction, assuring continued use and long life.

It will be observed that, while in the preferred form of packer construction I combine the same with the continuous flights or lifts, positioning the loading: hopper for the flights at a low level and the auxiliary packer and loader adjacent the uppermost portion of the refuse truck, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and that one or more of such: auxiliary packer plates may be positioned along the length of the tailgate, including direct loading employing the secondary hopper assembly at the lowest level, and as the sole means of loading and packing the refuse within the truck body, the rotary movement given to the scraping edge 49 minimizing returnof any debris within thesecondary hopper and its projection outwardly from the same.

The primary characteristic feature in the aux;- iliary hopper is to provide a scraping and pushing force along the surface or bottom wall of the hopper which minimizes recycling while avoiding obstruction between the side plates, and this action which is secured by the eccentric movement of the bottom edge while obtaining upward shifting of the top edge I refer to in the appended claims as a bodily swinging support? for the packer plate R.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to. secure. by Letters Patent, is:

l .:In, a. refuse truck or the like, a tailgate, a loader and packer comprising a fill opening in the tailgate, a hopper, an arcuate bottom wall, side plates and a packer plate driven between said side plates by an eccentric adjacent one end ofthe packer plate, guiding the end along the wall: and link support for the opposite end of the. plate providing a swinging movement, said packer plate being cyclically driven to provide forward, upward pushing and return lifting clearingv movement.

2;; In a, refuse truck or the like having a low level lift directed to a fill'opening above the floor level; the combination having a loader and packer comprising a filling hopper, anarcuate bottom wall and side, plates and a'packer plate, a prime mover for said packer plate including'a bodily swinging" support whereby a downward, forward upwardibodily pushing motion and return load clearing movement is cyclically transmitted .to

3. In a refuse truck or the like having a low level lift directed to a fill opening above the floor level, the combination having a tailgate having an upper fill opening a hopper defined by an arcuate bottom wall and side plates, a packer plate guided adjacent the fill opening of said hopper and having an edge uided adjacent said Wall, a prime mover for driving said packer plate and a bodily swinging support for said packer plate during movement by said prime mover.

4. 111. a refuse tru ker the l ke, a loadin h p per therefor having an arcuate bottom wall, side plates, means for rotating the side plates, an eccentric cross shaft supported across said side plates, a packer plate supported adjacent its lower edge on said cross shaft, and a swinging support for the upper edge of said packer plate.

5. In a refuse truck or the like, a loader and packer comprising, in combination, a primary hopper, a prime mover and chain operated lift within said hopper for lifting the load, an upper fill opening, a secondary hopper comprising an arcuate bottom wall adjacent the fill opening and side plates, a prime mover and drive from said prime mover to said lift, side plates for said secondary hopper to each side of said fill opening, each mounted on an independent countershaft driven from said primary shaft, a packer plate supported on a cross shaft eccentrically supported to revolve with said side plates and between the same, to guide the bottom edge of said plate adjacent the bottom wall of said hopper, the upper edge of said packer plate being supported on arms swinging adjacent said side References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 968,656 Haines Aug. 30, 1910 2,050,806 Rey Aug. 11, 1936 2,084,656 Rottee June 22, 1937 2,151,894 Cambessedes Mar. 28, 1939 2,335,155 Lee Nov. 23, 1943 2,371,540 Mott Mar. 13, 1945 2,488,657 Biszantz et a1 Nov. 22, 1949 2,496,192 Baldt Jan. 31, 1950 

